This invention is directed to a hay rake tooth assembly and more particularly a hay rake tooth assembly having a stronger and more resilient construction.
Hay rake assemblies are well-known in the art and typically include a rake wheel having a plurality of tooth assemblies mounted to the wheel. An example of a conventional hay rake tooth is found in U.S. Pat. No. 3,401,515. As shown in FIG. 1, prior art tooth assemblies 1 include a base plate 2, a rubber molding 3 attached to the base plate 2, and a tine 4 that extends from within the rubber molding 3 outwardly away from the base plate 2. Some tines 4 are configured at a base end 5 to have an L-shape or a loop to reduce the possibility of the tine 4 being pulled out of the molding 3.
With this prior art design, when the tine 4 is molded and is held in place by hole 6 which is made near the base of the molding on each side, that is in communication with the bore 7 in the molding 3 that receives a pin to hold the tine 4. However, the hole 6 weakens the structural integrity of molding 3. Further, since the tine 4 is retained only by the molding 3, when the molding fatigues, or is stressed beyond its limitations, the molding 3 breaks and the tine 4 is released into the field where the tine 4 can puncture an implement tire, be run through a field chopper, or interfere with production in some other way. Accordingly, a need exists in the art for a tooth assembly that addresses these needs.
Therefore, an objective of the present invention is to provide a tooth assembly that is stronger and more resilient.
Another objective of the present invention is to provide a tooth assembly that better retains a tine 4 under stress or fatigue.
These and other objectives will be apparent to one skilled in the art based upon the following written description, claims, and drawings.